…… Need clean slow cooker apple sauce recipe

[meandk0610]

I'd like to try my hand at making and canning apple sauce this year. The only thing I've canned before was syrup (elderberry syrup; I didn't realize how quickly we'd use it!).

So I'd like to make some plain, with no sugar or sweetener, and I'd like to do some with cinnamon with no sugar or sweetener. I'd like to make it in the slow cooker so I don't have to babysit the stove. I think I have a 5 qt.

Does anyone have a step-by-step they can point me to or post here?

 

[Publius]

We have always cooked them down as soon as we have enough to make a load (7-14 jars) and the kids love the stuff so we make plenty say 48 quarts and then move on to doing apple pie filling.

 

[SheWoff]

I just peel/core/slice the apples into the crockpot and let it cook down. You might have to add a touch of water at first so your apples don't stick. Be careful adding the cinnamon! When you can up the applesauce, it makes the cinnamon stronger. I would just can it up plain and add the cinnamon after you open it.

She

 

[Cyclonemom]

It will also help if you use "softer" apples like Mac's or Cortland's so they cook down faster, if you have the option.

I did apple butter last year in a crockpot, and even with the Mac's, it took a really long time to get the right consistency. I felt I did more babysitting with the crockpot than the stove method. It kept wanting to burn to the bottom. I dunno, maybe my crockpot isn't working right...... I don't use it very much........

 

[ginnie6]

I always use a mix of apples for applesauce. You can also do apple butter in the crockpot. I just peel and core and cook them down in the crockpot. When they're done can it up. I use the cores and peels then to make jelly. I've never had it burn in the crockpot....unlike the whole pot I burned one year on the stove.

 

[WalknTrot]

I'm cooking down apple butter in my 8.5 qt crockpot right now. It went all night on low with the lid just half-way on to avoid cooking too fast. But I did process the apples through the Victorio strainer before I started cooking the pulp. Saves a lot of time, and straining afterward.

When I do applesauce, it's much the same, but I don't usually need to use the crockpot because it doesn't need to cook down so thick, and I like to do a BIG batch in the stockpot on the stove - so to make a full canner load. We like "chunky" applesauce, so I usually just do the "corer/slicer/peeler" and cook until soft and a good consistency. Yes, if you cook it on the stove, add a tiny bit of water at first to keep things from sticking. Don't add sugar until near the end.

If you start applesauce in the crockpot, I'd add a little water, and leave the lid on until the apples soften and juice a bit. Then, if you want to dry the sauce out and concentrate, either turn the lid so steam escapes, or pull it off completely.

Thing is, most crockpots don't hold much. (That's why I grabbed that big one when I saw it on clearance!). So applesauce for me is usually done on the stovetop. But I love the crockpot for applebutter, because it does cook down slowly and it usually takes near a full night and most of the next day, but I only need to stir every couple hours.

Added for canning instructions:

Here's the USDA applesauce canning recipe:
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/applesauce.html

And here's apple butter:
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/apple_butter.html

 

[Nine]

Thanks for the link, Walkn Trot. I'm being 'gifted' a bunch of apples and thought canning applesauce would be great. I've just never done it before. At least I now know for how long to can them.

 

[Martinhouse]

If you cut up apples and freeze them, you can thaw them and use the blender to make them into sauce. This saves all the time and electric, gas, whatever, and you're not cooking all the goodness out of them.

Then just heat the sauce to boiling, maybe simmer a while to get some of the blender foam out, then pour this hot sauce right into your canning jars.

Freezing the apples first makes them soft and they won'd beat up your blender. This is also a good way to keep adding apples to what you have if you don't get a lot all at once.

This works great with pears, too. Next year, we are going to try dropping a few whole cranberrires into each pint of apple or pear or mixed sauce. My sister likes to add honey, lemon and cinnamon to her sauces. I prefer them plain.

(A dozen or so cranberries mixed into the filling are "pretty" in an apple pie, too.)

Carol